GOOGLE Inc.the world’s top Internet Search Engine, plans to invest in the world’s biggest server farm, which could be located in Malaysia, India or Vietnam, sources said.A server farm is a cluster of server computers, or powerful computers, that store vast amounts of data. The data are shared between people via personal computers over a common network like the Internet.
“It will be very major for Malaysia. The investment could run into a few hundred million ringgit,” said a source.
Winning this investment will be a major coup for any country, not just for the inflow of money but also the profile that the US brand provides.
Meeting between Malaysia PM and Google CEO Eric Schmidt in Davos.
Google Inc is interested to set up a base in Malaysia due to its huge ICT market, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The Prime Minister said the Government’s development plans for the ICT industry were also in line with the company’s expansion programme.
"I was told that Malaysians formed the highest group of Google users in South-East Asia,” he told Malaysian journalists after meeting the US giant’s CEO Eric Schmidt on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Abdullah said the company felt Malaysia was a good place for the base due to its strategic geographical location.
Google declined to comment when contacted."We do not comment on rumours or speculation. We have data centre facilities around the world, but do not provide specific locations,” said Dickson Seow, the head of communications and public affairs for Southeast Asia.
Malaysia wants to become a hub for outstanding services, a better- value alternative to low-cost manufacturing, which is now led by Vietnam. As for India, it is already a heavyweight in the software and outsourcing industry.
Since last year, Google has been sending teams to the region to look for suitable places for its data centres. The decision is now down to three countries.
In Malaysia, it may ask for an area of more than 100ha. This could be in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, which is adjacent to Cyberjaya City, a source said. It is believed that the landowner and a few utility companies had a meeting recently to discuss the needs of the project, code-named Neptune.
"It needs uninterrupted power supply and huge broadband capacity, among other things. These must be sorted out,” another source said.
It is believed that state government officials are excited about the potential investment.
Source: New Straits Times
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1. Google will set up its first campus in India, which will be spread over 20 acres in Hyderabad, a senior IT department official of the Andhra Pradesh government said on, February 13, 2008.
2. IT services provider Satyam Computer Services Limited is setting up a 15-acre campus at Cyberjaya City, the IT hub of Malaysia, which is expected to be operational by this year end, said Prasenjit Kundu, head (global solutions centre in Malaysia), Satyam. It will be providing high-end services including business process management (BPM), data warehousing, Oracle and engineering practices.
